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AniMat's Reviews - Cars 3
AniMat's Reviews - Cars 3 is an episode of AniMat's Reviews and the fifth episode for Season 2017. Having considered the first Cars to be an OK movie and having used to give Cars 2 a score of 6/10 (he now said he’d bump it down a bit to a 5/10 due to it having great animation, but a Logan Paul-esque protagonist that is responsible for its highly laughable writing). AniMat continues to be mixed (but mostly positive) on the third installment of Pixar's Cars series. He finds the writing and characters to be weak and average compared to other Pixar films, but does overall find the story, though he doesn’t like it (see Scene 2), a huge improvement over the second film's story. He overall gives the film a score of 6/10, (because we gotta admit, one big improvement that it has from the second movie is that the story and characters weren’t out of place anymore) but because he did not at all enjoy the majority of the year of the film’s release, he later ranked it as the #5 Best Animated Film of 2017. Transcript Scene 1: Introduction * AniMat (voiceover): Cars 3. I think it’s safe to say that out of all the Pixar films, Cars is probably the last to deserve a trilogy, let alone one that got a couple of spin-offs as well. I’m not saying the first Cars was bad or anything. I mean, it was okay, but nowhere near the levels of the studio’s legendary collection. Cars 2, on the other hand…oh, boy. Turning the franchise into a Mater spy comedy was probably the most regrettable decision ever done at Pixar. In fact, it’s almost unanimously agreed that Cars 2 is the worst Pixar film, far from one of the worst animated films of the decade on its own, but there was massive disappointment from the public to see one of the most acclaimed studios going from Toy Story 3 to this. * (A scene from Cars 2 is shown, showing Mater talking with a Japanese wasabi chef) * Mater: Hey, what'd you got here that's free? How about that pistachio ice cream? * Chef: No, no. Wasabi. * Mater: Ah, same old, same old. What's up with you? * AniMat (voiceover): But even with that reputation, the franchise surprisingly doesn’t want to give up, and it’s coming back for one more shot. So will Cars 3 redeem the franchise from embarrassment, or will the movie end up like this? (The film's signature shot of Lighting McQueen crashing is shown) Let’s find out. Scene 2: Story * AniMat (voiceover): Remember all the events that occurred in Cars 2, with all the gadgets and Mater being a top spy? Well, the first thing that the third movie tells you to do is pretty much forget all that. In fact, the title of this might as well have been the actual Cars 2, putting away all the Mater goofiness and put the movie back to what it was mainly about: racing. The story puts that aspect on top of anything else so that it could properly fit itself as a sports movie. Even with the talking animated cars going around, it actually takes itself a lot more seriously so that it can work hard on the themes it’s trying to present. In a way, it ended up as a double-edged sword. Technically, it does work for the kind of movie that it wants to be, highlighting the core of the franchise and deliver what audiences are looking for when they see this movie, which is a whole bunch of cars racing. * Smokey: You'll never be the racer you once were. You can't turn back the clock, kid. But you can wind it up again. * AniMat (voiceover): However, the big downside to this is that it makes the story easily predictable. It’s like it wants to be a sports movie so bad that it would even copy plotlines that have been frequently used by other films of the genre. Now what the plot has become is your typical aging athlete story, where the main character still wants one more shot at winning the game despite the age, and it ultimately comes down to the battle of the old veteran vs. the new rookie. Even before the movie was released, judging by the trailers, some have expected that it could be following the same steps as Rocky IV, since Jackson Storm shares a heavy resemblance to Ivan Drago. In actuality, it’s more of a mix of Rocky IV and Creed. I’ll just say that the latter is more because of Cruz Ramirez. In a way, I’m glad that the story did step up a bit to make it more like what it’s all about, so, of course it’s an improvement from the second film. But is it an improvement in general? Well, um…that can be rather debatable. Scene 3: Animation * AniMat (voiceover): Yes, it is Cars, but it’s still a Pixar film nonetheless, so, of course the animation will look really nice. There have been a lot of debates about how the designs look among the characters. Some say that it fits well as an animated feature, others say that it’s awkward seeing what looks like actual cars that literally have eyes and a mouth. For this movie, I’ll give it credit that it does go above and beyond the capabilities with the concept, using a giant variety of cars both vintage and nearly high-tech, and even some unique ones like Miss Fritter as a school bus turned into a monster truck. As for the character animation, well, this could probably be the one downgrade from Cars 2. In the predecessor, I’ll give it credit that it is rather creative how the cars would use those spy gadgets on top of the racing scenes. In here, though, it goes back to being simple and just have them go around the track. But I’m not saying that the execution of it is bad, though. It does still try to look realistic on how the cars go around, while the animators would think up all the possibilities to work within the limits of a car’s movement. * Cruz Ramirez: He looks old and broken down... * Lightning McQueen: Hey. * Cruz Ramirez: ...with flabby tires. * Lightning McQueen: I do not! * Cruz Ramirez: Use that! * Lightning McQueen: Whoa! Oh...yeah, I see. I can use that energy from motivation, right? * AniMat (voiceover): As for the backgrounds, admittedly, this is not the most impressive Pixar world. Even when everybody is a car, everything is more down to Earth and set in a rather realistic environment. I’m sure the details look stellar here, but that’s more thanks to the huge budget that Pixar normally puts in their films. But if there is one part that stands out from the visuals, it would have to be when the characters actually race. The movie emphasizes them as the highlights of the film, and give a good amount of time building them up with all the montages of McQueen training. If anything, those scenes alone would satisfy any racing fan with the execution feeling like something you’d only get from watching NASCAR. I wouldn’t say it’s Pixar’s best animation, but it’s still some really good animation on its own. Scene 4: Characters * AniMat (voiceover): I know that in the world of Cars, there are a lot of characters to take in. For Cars 3, however, the reality is that there are only two to actually focus on. But, even with that, they still appear as dull characters. First you have Lightning McQueen, who is now the veteran racer that doesn’t want to give up while he’s witnessing a transitional period to the next generation. Cruz Ramirez is the young and eager trainer whose mindset is more on teaching with new technology, but then McQueen teaches her back the old-fashioned ways. I will give the movie that it does try to give Ramirez some depth and present a lot more about her character, but the problem with it is that the more she reveals herself, the more that the story becomes predictable. So, if those are the only characters to keep an eye on, what about Jackson Storm, the new hot rod that’s portrayed to be the new villain? Well, honestly, he acts more like an obstacle than an actual antagonist. Sure, he’s mean to McQueen, but he doesn’t appear that often to make that much of an impact to the film. * Bob Cutlass: Win #3 for the rookie sensation! * Natalie Certain: Storm's in a class of his own, and a big reason for that: training on the newest cutting-edge simulators. * AniMat (voiceover): As for the rest, some of their roles can vary depending on who they are. Some new ones like Smokey are more as motivational boosters for McQueen and Ramirez in the later half of the film. The recurring characters are mostly there because they played a role in the predecessors. And the rest are just cameos from NASCAR personalities. However, one character that does stand out, and plays a huge role in this, outside of the protagonists, is actually Doc Hudson. Yes, technically, he’s dead. But he’s a big part in why Lightning doesn’t want to give up racing, and it even shows some flashbacks with never before used audio from the late Paul Newman. Even if this is more about the characters, the cast doesn’t offer a lot to the movie. What they’ve done is passable, but nothing really memorable. Scene 5: Verdict * AniMat (voiceover): It’s a step up from its predecessor, but that’s not saying much. Cars 3 brought the franchise back to its roots in order to become something that’s just, well, decent. I’ll give it that it does offer some good animation, nice racing scenes, and a heartfelt homage to Paul Newman’s contribution to the first film, but it’s still subpar to other Pixar films for a mediocre script with a weak story and generic characters. I don’t even have to say that fans of the franchise would want to check this out, but ultimately, my recommendation would depend on how you feel about the first Cars. If you like it, then you’ll most likely enjoy this one, too. If not, well, then this one won’t do you any favors either. I will say, though, that if there was one thing that made me satisfied to seeing this, it would have to be the short before the film, Lou. It’s actually really impressive to see all the different combinations of forms using just random objects from the Lost and Found box, and have a nice, heartwarming story as a bonus. With this film, at the end of the day, it’s Cars. With the large reputation that it gathered over the years, it really does speak for itself. Ratings * Story: 5/10 * Animation: 8/10 * Characters: 6/10 * Overall: 6/10 Category:Pixar Category:Season 2017 Category:AniMat's Reviews episodes Category:Transcripts